Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Another Shooting: This Time a Mall in Paramus, New Jersey

I was listening to someone, I don't even remember who, talking about gun violence in America. It was on liberal talk radio (a rare entity indeed), and I'm not sure if it was a host, or if it was a caller or guest. But basically, they were lamenting that when there is a shooting, the media--with rare exceptions--is expected not to focus on the guns, but the violence. Any attempt to get at the problem (almost said "target") has to tippy-toe past the obvious. It's a minefield of sort of reverse political correctness. Any misstep will bring down the wrath of the NRA and all of Right Wing World.

Sandy Hook was an aberration, probably because it was so unspeakably tragic, involving so many young children. It was the closest we came to actually talking like normal people about guns, but even then, there was a lot of squawking. For some reason, it's perfectly acceptable for the right to get as political as they want about it. More guns is the answer, they say. Everybody from teachers to shop owners to every damned citizen should be armed they say. They expect strapped citizens to go all Dirty Harry on any potential threat, and that it will all work out like an action movie.

And while one side is afraid to argue, and the other side mutters inanities, armed crazy people keep shooting things up.

[Excerpt]Shooter on the loose at New Jersey mallA shooter opened fire at a New Jersey mall late Monday, sending panic through the shopping center and igniting a massive police response.
The gunman inside Westfield Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus, New Jersey, has not yet been found during a sweep of the shopping center by Bergen County SWAT, said county Chief of Staff Jeanne Baratta. . .